This week we have another 30 newspaper titles up on DigitalNC! In the September 3, 1891 issue of Boone’s Watauga Democrat we have an article describing the terrible train wreck of Bostian’s Bridge in Statesville. This fatal accident sparked a legendary North Carolina ghost story, but perhaps even scarier are the boogeymen railroad companies would often create to avoid accountability: train wreckers.

By 1891 the railroad system in America had exploded, allowing for easier cross-country travel and bringing with it fresh new paranoia about disasters and scary strangers coming to your town. Blaming a wreck on some shady character was a lot easier than paying a fortune on settlements due to negligence. Almost immediately after the August 27, 1891 accident, the Richmond & Danville Railroad Company put out ads offering a $10,000 reward for the apprehension of the perpetrator, leading to many being accused and arrested (conveniently with the help of a railroad detective).

The editor at Statesville’s Landmark provides us with an incredibly detailed account of the accident and the recovery effort, complete with interviews from survivors and witnesses where they describe rotten cross-ties and rail workers throwing this evidence into the creek below the bridge. Many of those interviewed make a point to mention that there were no signs of robbery after the crash, which doesn’t exactly support the idea of this being some dastardly deed by a bandit.

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

Asheville

• Western North Carolina Baptist (Asheville, N.C.) – 1886
• The Epworth News (Asheville, N.C.) – 1891

Boone

• Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) – 1888-1914

Burlington

• The Burlington Falcon (Burlington, N.C.) – 1925

Chapel Hill

• The Chapel Hill News (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – 1893-1894
• The News (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – 1898-1917

Durham

• The Trinity League Record (Durham, N.C.) – 1894-1895
• The Christian Educator (Durham, N.C.) – 1896

Fayetteville

• Fayetteville Observer [1816-1865] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1834-1865
• The Fayetteville Advertiser and Gazette (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1871
• Fayetteville Observer [1880-1919] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1883-1885
• Fayetteville Observer [1880-1919] (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1887-1900
• The Home-Florist (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1890

Fairfield

• Hyde County Messenger (Fairfield, N.C.) – 1934-1941

Gastonia

• The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1886-1892

Holly Springs

• The Cape Fear Enterprise (Holly Springs, N.C.) – 1899-1901

Jackson

• The Northampton Reporter–Supplement (Jackson, N.C.) – 1879

Kinston

• Kinston Journal (Kinston, N.C.) – 1878-1882

Lexington

• The Normal Echo (Lexington, N.C.) – 1886

Lincolnton

• The Literary South (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1937

Pittsboro

• The Semi-Monthly Record of the Pittsboro’ Scientific Academy (Pittsboro, N.C.) – 1866

Raleigh

• Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1836
• The Daily Standard (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1865
• The Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1871
• Monthly Bulletin, North Carolina Department of Agriculture (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1883-1884
• The Belles-Lettres (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1885

Salisbury

• The Farmer’s Journal (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1846-1847

Tarboro

• The Edgecombe Farm-Journal (Tarboro, N.C.) – 1860

Winston

• The Independent Supplement (Winston, N.C.) – 1885
• The Broad Street Worker (Winston, N.C.) – 1894

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.

Another 40 newspaper titles up on DigitalNC this week! In this batch are many titles from all over the state (including nine from Rutherfordton) and a little local baseball history.

Featured in the May 5, 1902 issue of the Durham Daily Sun is the very first game of the Durham Tobacconists, the baseball team that would go on to become the Durham Bulls in 1913. While they lost their inaugural match to the Charlotte team 12-2, the author is optimistic and writes that “everything may soon be going their way.” They dropped out of the season two months later.

Durham Daily Sun, May 5, 1902

Durham Daily Sun, May 6, 1902

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

Charlotte

• The Charlotte Chronicle (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1886-1892
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1922

Durham

• Durham Daily Sun (Durham, N.C.) – 1889-1913
• The Durham Sun (Durham, N.C.) – 1911-1925

Elizabeth City

• The Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1914-1916
• The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1916-1919

Fayetteville

• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1901-1919
• Fayetteville Daily Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1917-1920
• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1920-1922

Gastonia

• The Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1880-1919
• The Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1919
• Gastonia Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) – 1920-1921

High Point

• The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.) – 1915-1919

Kinson

• The Evening Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1900-1902

Oxford

• Oxford Public Ledger (Oxford, N.C.) – 1902

Plymouth

• Roanoke Cresset (Plymouth, N.C.) – 1859-1861

Raleigh

• Daily Sentinel (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1871

Roanoke Rapids

• Roanoke Rapids Herald (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) – 1914-1922

Rockingham

• The Southern Index (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1896
• The Richmond Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1884-1885
• Rockingham Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1885-1897
• Piedmont Dispatch (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1915-1917
• Rockingham Post-Dispatch (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1926-1959

Rutherford College

• The Pen and Plow (Rutherford College, N.C.) – 1881

Rutherfordton

• The Democrat (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1896
• The Western Vindicator (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1869
• The Rutherford Enquirer (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1860
• The Rutherford Banner (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1881-1887
• The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1903-1922
• The Rutherford Star (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1866-1872
• The Republican (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1844-1845
• Western North Carolina Republican (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1847
• Mountain Banner (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – 1848-1850

Southern Pines

• Sandhills Daily News (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1936-1937
• Southern Pines Bulletin (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1902

Southport

• The Southport Leader (Southport, N.C.) – 1890-1894

Troy

• The Montgomerian (Troy, N.C.) – 1908-1922

Wilmington

• The Commercial (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1846-1850
• The Tri-Weekly Commercial (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1850-1858

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.

This week we have another 60 titles from all over the state up on DigitalNC, including a little piece of North Carolina railroad history!

On the second page of the January 15^th, 1833 issue of the Fayetteville Observer, you’ll find a list of all the legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly during the 1832-1833 session. One of these acts is the incorporation of the company that built North Carolina’s first functional railroad: The Experimental Rail Road Company of Raleigh.

Fayetteville Observer, January 15, 1833

The one and one-quarter mile rail line extended from the Capitol Building, which had burned in 1831, to a quarry just east of Raleigh. When the horse-drawn rail carts weren’t transporting the stone used to rebuild the Capitol, people could ride the line in “pleasure cars” for a 25 cent fare. The line cost $2,700 to construct, which would be roughly $91,000 in 2022.

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

• The North Carolina Prohibitionist (Bush Hill, N.C.) – 1886-1888
• The Progress (Enfield, N.C.) – 1908-1922
• The North-Carolina Journal (Halifax, N.C.) – 1792-1810
• The News Reporter (Littleton, N.C.) – 1897-1923
• The Franklin Courier (Louisburg, N.C.) – 1872-1874
• The Madison Enterprise (Madison, N.C.) – 1873-1874
• The Monroe Journal (Monroe, N.C.) – 1923
• The Iredell Gazette (Mooresville, N.C.) – 1880
• The Morganton Herald (Morganton, N.C.) – 1891-1901
• Surry Visitor (Mount Airy, N.C.) – 1874-1876
• Cherokee Herald (Murphy, N.C.) – 1874-1876
• Person County Courier (Roxboro, N.C.) – 1890-1892
• North Carolina Argus (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1848-1876
• Mecklenburg Times (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1889-1897
• The North Carolina Whig (Charlotte, N.C.) – 1863
• King’s Dollar Daily (Greenville, N.C.) – 1904
• King’s Weekly (Greenville, N.C.) – 1894-1909
• McDowell Democrat (Marion, N.C.) – 1905-1909
• Marion Progress (Marion, N.C.) – 1909-1922
• The Stanly Banner (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1876
• The Stanly Observer (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1884
• The Stanly News (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1892-1893
• The Caldwell Messenger (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1875-1876
• The Semi-Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1900
• The Weekly News (Lenoir, N.C.) – 1900-1902
• The Magnolia Monitor (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1873-1876
• The Duplin Record (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1874-1875
• The Weekly Record (Magnolia, N.C.) – 1876-1877
• The Central (Lexington, N.C.) – 1876
• Lexington and Yadkin Flag (Lexington, N.C.) – 1855-1856
• The Lexington Herald (Lexington, N.C.) – 1915-1917
• The North State (Lexington, N.C.) – 1904-1908
• Murfreesboro Enquirer (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1876-1878
• The Albemarle Enquirer (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1878-1881
• The Hornets’ Nest (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1812-1813
• Carolina Chronicle (Murfreesboro, N.C.) – 1827
• Milton Intelligencer (Milton, N.C.) – 1819
• Milton Spectator (Milton, N.C.) – 1832-1839
• The Milton Chronicle (Milton, N.C.) – 1841-1888
• Milton Gazette & Roanoke Advertiser (Milton, N.C.) – 1824-1831
• The Milton Spectator (Milton, N.C.) – 1854
• The Lincoln Democrat (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1895-1896
• The Lincoln Journal (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1898-1901
• The Lincoln Courier (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1891
• Lincoln Transcript (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1836
• The Western Whig Banner (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1840
• Lincoln Progress (Lincolnton, N.C.) – 1873-1882
• Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1903
• The Weekly Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1903-1905
• Daily Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1905-1907
• North Carolina Advocate (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1833
• The Intelligencer, and Nag’s Head Advocate (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1840-1841
• The Elizabeth-City Gazette, and Public Advertiser (Elizabeth City, N.C.) – 1808
• Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1833
• The Public Spirit (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1876
• The News (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865
• The Fayetteville Daily News (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865
• The Weekly Courier (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1860
• Fayetteville Examiner (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1880-1883
• Daily Telegraph (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1865

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.

This week we have another 34 titles up on DigitalNC! While this batch focuses heavily on newspapers from Hendersonville, Goldsboro, and Greensboro, it also includes Fayetteville, Henderson, Albemarle, Clinton, Burlington, and our first addition from Bush Hill. Bush Hill (renamed Archdale in 1886) was home to the Annie Florence Petty, who was the first professionally educated and trained librarian in the state of North Carolina. Petty (born 1871) was a founding member of the North Carolina Library Association and, in keeping with her Quaker upbringing, she was also the first secretary of the North Carolina Friends Historical Society. After her prosperous, four-decade long career building the library at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) and other libraries across the state, she retired in 1933 and moved into the family home she shared with her equally successful, chemist sister, Mary Petty.

Mary (left) and Annie Petty in 1952. Image via uncghistory.blogspot.com

Over the next year, we’ll be adding millions of newspaper images to DigitalNC. These images were originally digitized a number of years ago in a partnership with Newspapers.com. That project focused on scanning microfilmed papers published before 1923 held by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. While you can currently search all of those pre-1923 issues on Newspapers.com, over the next year we will also make them available in our newspaper database as well. This will allow you to search that content alongside the 2 million pages already on our site – all completely open access and free to use.

This week’s additions include:

• The News Dispatch (Clinton, N.C.) – 1909-1917
• The North Carolina Prohibitionist (Bush Hill, N.C.) – 1886-1888
• The Observer and Gazette (Fayetteville, N.C.) – 1885-1887
• The Stanly Enterprise (Albemarle, N.C.) – 1898-1902
• The Twice-A-Week Dispatch (Burlington, N.C.) – 1913
• Border Review (Henderson, N.C.) – 1879-1880
• The Tobacconist and Review (Henderson, N.C.) – 1881
• The Henderson County Advertiser (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1874
• The Henderson Times (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1864
• The Western Courier (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1878
• Independent Herald (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1881-1882
• The Hendersonville News (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1921-1922
• The Daily Rough Notes (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1861
• Goldsboro’ Daily Rough Notes (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1868
• Goldsboro’ Telegraph (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1850
• North Carolina Telegraph (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1850-1855
• Goldsboro’ Tribune (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1862
• Goldsboro’ Patriot (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1849
• The New Era (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1853-1855
• The Goldsboro Bulletin (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1883-1884
• The Daily News (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1865
• Goldsboro’ Daily News (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1866
• Goldsboro Mail (Goldsboro N.C.) – 1879
• Daily Morning Star (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1867
• The Republican (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1870
• Daily Southern Citizen (Greensboro, N.C.) -1864
• The Topic (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1869
• Greensboro Union Register (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1869
• The Daily Battle-Ground (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1881
• The Daily Bugle (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1882-1884
• The True American (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1855
• The Southern Democrat (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1890
• Republican Gazette (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1869
• The Labor News (Greensboro, N.C.) – 1908-1909

If you want to see all of the newspapers we have available on DigitalNC, you can find them here. Thanks to UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries for permission to and support for adding all of this content as well as the content to come. We also thank the North Caroliniana Society for providing funding to support staff working on this project.